Donatus’ Merasheen Reunion Song

by Donatus Fulford

I never will forget the sight I saw on last July
The sky was fairly overcast, the rain came from the sky.
The Hopedale came around the Point and tied up in the swell
And people sang and joined their hands at the Merasheen Farewell.
People came from all around, from near and far away
In boats of every shape and size they came across the bay.
They came around the Long Point Hill and around the Westerd Head
To the Merasheen Reunion, to miss it they’d be dead!

Chorus
There were tents here, tents there, every tent was full of beer
Songs and laughter everywhere, a sight you should have seen.
High Mass, Low Mass, services upon the grass
It surely did bring back the past we had in Merasheen.

Kevin played the accordion with Gerald and John Tobias
They sang those long forgotten songs that brought tears to our eyes
Joe Hann and Bill Fulford, I wish you could have been there
Joining hands and singing those songs around a keg of beer!
I danced in my grandfather’s house where my father did before
Where he and my grandfather danced close to the floor.
The window panes were missing, the wooden floor was bare
But everyone had such a time they didn’t even care!

Chorus - There were tents . . .

I walked across the Jaw Bones and along the Muddy Hole
The old Spout Bridge was sagging down, the drinking water cold
I strolled up Philly’s Bottom, kept walking on until
I swear I saw Jimmy Barrett a-walking up the hill!
The Merasheen Reunion still haunts me every day
I think about that island out in Placentia Bay
There’s something I am sure of, I’m sure you heard it said
While there are Merasheeners the island won’t be dead!

Chorus - There were tents . . .